To measure the performance of an affiliate business, you need to effectively measure conversions. The simple way to connect conversions to partners is to rely on affiliate networks. In this post, we are going to look into how you build your own postback system. Let's see how it works.
A postback URL is a server-to-server communication. It notifies your system when a conversion (registration, FTD, etc.) occurs. This process ensures accurate and reliable tracking of conversions.
When a user clicks on an affiliate link, a unique tracking ID (click ID) is generated and stored. This can be in the browser and also backend for a reliable comparison.
The user completes the desired action on the advertiser’s site (e.g., making a purchase).
The advertiser’s server sends an HTTP request to your server. The payload includes the click ID and conversion details.
Your server receives the postback request and stores all the data together. It gives a complete relation between the click source and the conversion.
When a user clicks an affiliate link, generate a unique click ID. This means that each link should have a GET parameter that would be unique for each click.
Store this click ID in your database along with other relevant data (affiliate ID, timestamp).
If you are using the different traffic sources, you can also create a mapping for that. Each inbound channel to your website will also get connected to outbound click IDs.
Create a postback URL template. Whenever a conversion happens on the advertiser website, they need to fire a request. It would have the structure and the payload that your server expects to receive.
Example: `https://yourwebsite.com/postback?click_id={click_id}&amount={amount}&status={status}`
Provide advertisers with your postback URL format.
Set up an endpoint on your server to handle incoming postback requests.
Extract the click ID and other parameters from the request.
Match the click ID with the stored data in your database.
Record the conversion and update your database with conversion details.
Implement security measures to verify the authenticity of postback requests (e.g., using secret keys or tokens).
Ensure data integrity by validating the parameters received in the postback request.
Ensure that the postback URL setup works correctly. A simple flow is to generate conversions and see that everything is recorded.
Continuously monitor the performance of your postback system. To ensure it captures all conversions, you can compare the total numbers systems..
By building your own postback functionality, you can gain accurate insights into your performance. Make data-driven decisions to optimize your campaigns without relying on third-party tools.